John Coltrane
Tenor Sax Solo on
A Love Supreme, Part 2: Resolution

About

John Coltrane opens "Resolution" with two choruses of tenor saxophone over the compact 8-bar form in E-flat minor at approximately 178 BPM, the second movement of A Love Supreme. His opening statement establishes the movement's determined, assertive character, the driving swing tempo and clearly defined structure providing a foundation for the hard-swinging improvisation that follows. As the first soloist, Coltrane's two choruses set the movement's musical direction before McCoy Tyner's commanding twelve-chorus piano feature, after which Coltrane will return for a far more expansive fourteen-chorus statement. The movement's title reflects a determination to pursue spiritual truth, and Coltrane's opening solo embodies that resolve.

John Coltrane was 37 to 38 years old at the time.